A blog about the history, current state, and the future of the electric guitar and tube-based amplifier combo and how this de rigueur musical instrument that matured during the Rock N' Roll-era continues to both evolve and refuses to die.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Even though he’s a “mere” keyboard player of the pioneering
Heavy Metal band Deep Purple, did Jon Lord manage to compose one of the most
iconic guitar riffs in heavy metal history?

By: Ringo Bones

Jon Lord passed away last July 17, 2012 aged 71 marking
another sad day in the Heavy Metal Music world. Though he left a legacy that
would certainly last as long as the Classical works of Mozart and Beethoven. As
every under-40 guitarist today who’s getting formal music education, Deep
Purple’s Smoke on the Water is a much-do in any Heavy Metal guitar masterclass.

Even though he’s a “mere” keyboard player for Deep Purple
when the band started in 1968, Jon Lord managed to compose the most iconic
Heavy metal guitar riff of all time – i.e. the main riff of Smoke on the Water.
Like many iconic musicians of the 1960s, Jon Lord managed to combine the
intricate structures of Classical Music and the immediacy of African-American
Blues with the visceral impact of Heavy Metal Music. Making Deep Purple stand
out against band that merely want to kick-ass by playing as loud as possible
without any musical finesse.